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Early arrival won't guarantee Saudi success

Qantas Socceroos coach Holger Osieck has warned Saudi Arabia that arriving in Melbourne early won’t necessarily guarantee them success against his side on Wednesday February 29 at AAMI Park.

Qantas Socceroos coach Holger Osieck has warned Saudi Arabia that arriving in Melbourne early won-t necessarily guarantee them success against his side on Wednesday February 29 at AAMI Park.

Osieck firing the following salvo at Frank Rijkaard-s men who are already in Melbourne and training hard as they try and reverse the 3-1 scoreline from the first match.

“Saudi Arabia, they can-t leave any stone unturned, they have to try their utmost, but based on my experience a longer camp does not guarantee you will win a game,” Osieck said.

Speaking exclusively on footballaustralia.com.au Osieck discussed his side for the upcoming match with a Green Falcons unit who are sure to be desperate to keep their Brazil 2014 hopes from ending early.

The side features a distinct A-League flavour with nine Australian-based stars in his squad including debutants Erik Paartalu, Mat Ryan and Michael Marrone, but Osieck saved the most praise for recalled Gold Coast United skipper Michael Thwaite.

It-s no secret Thwaite has had to struggle in a Gold Coast team who are a long way last on the A-League ladder, but despite that Osieck revealed he is happy to have Thwaite in the squad, focussing instead on his outstanding individual performances on the ‘Glitter Strip-.

“The individual performance of a player also matters, sometimes he is in the context of a team where things don-t go their way and the team are still lacking some cohesion and performance,” Osieck said.

“I think Michael is a good reliable person, I have known him already from the camp we had earlier in the season and whenever I call him he comes in and is positive and performs, therefore he is part of our group now.”

Osieck was similarly impressed with Mariners keeper Mat Ryan and though he is likely to be sitting on the bench, with Mark Schwarzer coming home for the match, Osieck indicated the young Australian Under 23s keeper has a big future.

“It wouldn-t have made sense to bring another keeper out from Europe just to sit him on the bench, so I looked at the local seen and Matty Ryan is part of the Under 23s and I monitor all of the A-League players very closely.

“I-m very frequently at the games and he is definitely one of the upcoming goalkeepers in Australia along with Mitch Langerak or other younger keepers that are at the start of their career.”